Preparing for a Dental Hygiene Job Interview

Dental hygiene job interview skills don’t just happen naturally. It takes time to and self-awareness to prepare yourself for the most important presentations of your career.

In a saturated dental hygiene job market, employers have lots of options. But job opportunities also need to be a good fit for YOU, too. This page will empower you with the knowledge needed to make each dental hygiene job interview successful.

Dental Hygiene Job Interview Tips

Remember, dental employers have lots of options of who to hire. You simply can’t prepare too much, from non-verbal communication strategies to setting a tone and creating an experience. There are many different angles to address.

We’ve written several articles that tackle every aspect of the dental hygiene job interview. Please review the ones you feel are most beneficial to you. But more than that, practice and apply the strategies and tactics mentioned to optimize your chances.

Dental Hygiene Job Interview Sample Questions

You will, of course, potentially get all kinds of job interview questions. Don’t consider these exact questions you will face, or the way in which each will be phrased. Dental employers ask questions they feel will best pull out of you what they need to know.

Interview questions are designed to gather technical information on the surface. But underneath that is a desire for you to leave them with a positive feeling or experience.

Here are a sample of five basic dental hygiene job interview questions you can expect and how to respond to them.

“Why do you want to leave your current job?”

There are lots of perfectly legitimate reasons to leave a job. You really only need to give them one. Choose the least problematic one that won’t raise a red flag with the interviewer. Advancing career and relocating, for example, are not going to raise concerns.

“Tell me about your biggest weakness.”

The most common strategy for answering this question is to turn your response into a positive. For example, “At times I can be a bit of a perfectionist” or “Sometimes, I am overly optimistic.” Another option is to share something semi-unrelated to the job. For example, “I don’t like watching training videos. I am more of a hands-on learner.”

It’s not always bad to share a weakness you are concerned about. But if you do, keep it simple and always counter with steps you took to correct or address it including a story or example. For example, “I have a trouble remembering names. But that’s important so I’ve worked at it with pneumonic devices and I’m getting better.”

“Why should I hire you?”

Here’s where knowing some facts about the employer is helpful. Do some research on the practice and people that work there. What’s cool about the office? How might you bring value to them – be prepared with specific examples. The overall idea is you want to align your brand with their brand.

“How do you handle unhappy patients?”

Think about this carefully. How have you handled some specific examples? What’s the right way? I wrote about CAR sheets in the past, which stands for Challenge Action Results. It’s a very simple outline for responding to questions like this.

“Do you have any questions?”

Don’t ever pass on this question. It’s the perfect chance for you to drive the discussion. You can use it to focus on an unaddressed strength you have (“What attributes are you seeking in a hygienist?”). You could also use it to further align yourself with them (“What makes me a great fit for your office?). Or, you can use it to dive into a discussion intended to impress them with your knowledge or expertise.

You should avoid appearing only interested in wages and benefits. It’s okay to ask these questions, but save them for the end or even later after you have an offer.

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